


New Skin

by ghoulaesthetics (astraielle)



Series: Cat Ryder vs. The Universe [7]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Alcohol, F/M, Fluff, side gil/scott
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 07:57:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12428340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astraielle/pseuds/ghoulaesthetics
Summary: “Hey Jaal, you sure you’ll make it home okay with her?”Before Jaal could answer, she piped up from where she was leaning heavily on the doorframe, swaying slightly. “I’m perfect--perfectly fine,” she insisted with a giggle, gripping tenaciously onto the wall. Her legs were usually the first thing she lost full awareness of when she drank, and apparently crossing the galaxy hadn’t altered that. “No trouble at all. I probably won’t even vomit,” she said with a confident nod.





	New Skin

“Hey Jaal, you sure you’ll make it home okay with her?” 

Ryder recognized Liam’s voice from somewhere to the side of the room. The last place she remembered seeing him was sprawled out on Gil’s couch, looking perfectly relaxed with a cold beer in hand. Of course, that was probably hours ago by now--she lost track of time somewhere between her second and fifth drink and however many followed that. Granted, it was mostly her fault that she wasn’t in the best shape for foot travel right now--woe on her for forgetting that before you started your impromptu party with your crew and brother, you actually needed to eat real food during the day and not just a handful of M&M’s with a can of warm soda for lunch seven hours earlier. 

Before Jaal could answer, she piped up from where she was leaning heavily on the doorframe, swaying slightly. “I’m perfect--perfectly  _fine_ ,” she insisted with a giggle, gripping tenaciously onto the wall. Her legs were usually the first thing she lost full awareness of when she drank, and apparently crossing the galaxy hadn’t altered that. “No trouble at all. I probably won’t even vomit,” she said with a confident nod. 

Peebee snorted from beside Liam, who was now using her lap as a footrest. “Probably--now there’s a word that instils  _so_ much confidence, no doubt.” 

“You trying to start something with me?” She grinned, taking an unsteady step forward, “Because I totally bet I can-- _oof_!” With a start, she surged forward, losing her grip and getting her feet mixed up on her way back into the living room and towards the couch.  She expected to hit the floor, but instead was pleasantly surprised to have her fall broken by a comparatively steady grip. 

Experimentally, she ran her hands along the arm, pleased to discover that it did, in fact, belong to Jaal. He’d been carefully watching her steps as soon as she rose from her place on the couch and decided she wanted to head back to her own apartment on the Nexus. 

Tilting her head back slightly, she beamed at him as best she could. “Hi,” she smiled, still giggling from her near-miss on the floor. “Nice catch. With your arm. Very smooth.”

“Thank you,” he chuckled, drawing her more upright so that she stood more or less flush to his side. “And, Liam, to answer your question, I think we’ll be fine--I may have kept pace with her this evening, but unlike  _someone_ , I managed to remember how to function afterwards.” 

She tried her best to turn towards him so that she could shoot a good and proper glare his way, but found that he was far too tall for it to be a successful gesture--had her eye-level always been so far down on his chest? 

“Sounds like hubris to me,” Scott noted as he rejoined the party, handing Gil one of the drinks he held as he smoothly slid in beside him. “Not saying I don’t trust you guys, just that the last time I heard someone say that trying to haul her ass home she ended up getting sick in some old guy’s rosebushes. He was pissed.”

She squinted hard at her brother. “That was  _you_  who said that. And you held my hair,” she reminded him. 

“It was eleven in the morning after brunch--how the hell was I supposed to know that you’d been finishing everyone’s mimosas when they weren’t looking?” He snorted. “Anyway, you two go home, be safe, make good choices and use protection I guess,” he shrugged, taking a swig of his beer.

“Hah! Sounds like the advice you two should be taking,” she cackled, sticking her tongue out at him. 

From beside Scott, Gil groaned. “You just had to give her the opening to take it there, didn’t you? She’s not even sober enough to be funny right now.” He was rolling his eyes, by now used to the constant stream of sisterly teasing that was often directed at him too. It was bizarrely endearing, a vastly different version of Ryder than the one he’d got to know over poker. 

Before her brother could answer, she piped up from Jaal’s arms again. “In my defence,” she half-slurred, placing a hand over her heart in sincerity, “I’ve been making fun of him for twenty-six years and _you_  since you’ve been on my ship, so, you know, it’s only natural that I have to one-up him every time he starts on me, mostly because his jokes are lame and he needs the roasting. With love, of course,” she nodded. 

Scott was laughing. “Oh, of course--always with love.” Looking at Jaal, he raised his glass in his general direction. “Make sure she actually gets some water in her before bed, yeah? And maybe some painkillers. She’s an asshole when she’s hungover.”

“Noted,” he grinned, looking back down at where she had a loose grip on his shirt.  “You’re not going to be good to walk, are you?” He asked flatly, seeing as she hadn’t stopped swaying since she’d been vertical. 

“Is that a challenge?” 

“Absolutely not,” he said decisively. “I have no desire to watch you fall down the stairs--come on.” 

She  _squeaked_  when she felt her feet leave the floor, too startled by the sudden motion to actually struggle away. And besides the room was spinning too much. It took her a good few seconds to register that she wouldn’t be walking home at all--she was going to be  _carried_  through the Nexus hallways, princess-style no less. 

“This is so ridiculous,” she laughed, twisting in his grip until she’d managed to hang most of her upper body off to the side, looking at the world upside down. “This is--oh god, I don’t even know what I was  _saying_ ,” she continued, managing to get the words out between bursts of joyful laughter, only losing her composure more when she looked at her entire crew chilling on the ceiling. 

“Let’s go,” he said fondly, and she felt the rumble of his voice through her body. “Thank you for the company, and the drinks--next time we’ll stay longer,” he promised. 

A chorus of goodbyes and good-lucks came up from the room as they exited. “’m calling it now, no work tomorrow!” She called behind them, leg in the air for emphasis. “Thank you and goodnight, I love you all!” 

“I love you the most though,” she said as soon as the doors shut mechanically behind them. In the soft artificial evening light of the Nexus halls, she was sure she’d never seen him look so regal. “You’re my favourite.”

“Oh? That’s good,” he chuckled, amused by how boneless she’d become in his arms. “You’re my favourite, too.”

“Fuckin’  _awesome_ ,” she grinned sharply, “I’m glad we’re on the same page here--feels good.” 

It wasn’t a long walk back to her place from there, but she’d be hard-pressed to remember it exactly the next morning. What she did remember was the feeling of floating, the knowledge that she’s never been happier than she was when he held her and that she’d hold onto the sensation for the rest of her life if she could. 

She made a disappointed noise when she finally felt herself being deposited down somewhere and groaned when the light on the bedside table was flickered on, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes. 

“It’s more fun in the dark,” she protested, piecing together that they’d made it into her bedroom and that she was alone on the bed while he hovered around her. The blanket was soft enough, but she already missed the solid warmth. “You can see the stars better that way.”

“They’re fake stars, Darling One,” he reminded her, carefully slipping her ridiculous heels off her feet--just where she’d managed to find smuggled seven-inch platforms on the Nexus was absolutely beyond him, but the gaudy animal print and false jewels were undeniably  _her_ and it hadn’t surprised him in the slightest when she wore them out tonight. “Projections from outside the station--only the  _Director_  himself has a real window, remember?” He bit back a laugh at the annoyed grumbling that brought on. Whether or not it was true, he didn’t know, but her usual distaste for Tann lost its coherency when she got like this and somehow that made it doubly funny to watch.

“Asshole,” she mumbled, lifting her legs slightly when she felt her too-tight jeans tugged off. She shivered slightly when the air hit her bare legs for the first time that night. “We should rob him,” she said, eyes unfocused up at the ceiling, vaguely aware that he was changing for the night as well somewhere on her peripheral. 

“Rob him of his entire apartment?” Jaal laughed, extinguishing the harsh light in the room, “Because you want a room with a view?” He crawled onto the bed beside her, resting his head on her shoulder and wrapping an arm securely around her ribs. Instinctively, she’d moved her legs to rest under his, sapping whatever heat she could off of his body. 

She scoffed. “I mean, come on, we kind of deserve it more than him, right? Like, what specifically has he done? Cowered in his office when people wanted to kick his ass? If someone wanted to kick my ass I’d invite them in to try, it’s common courtesy.” Absently, she traced the patterns on his head as best she could with her fingertips, range of motion only slightly inhibited by the fact that he was using most of her left arm and shoulder as a pillow. It was fine. She liked him enough to leave him there. “I’d break in to kick his ass if I wanted to. Door’s not gonna stop me.” 

“I know,” he chuckled, kissing the corner of her collarbone. The lace from the edge of her tanktop tickled his nose. “Consider, though, if you broke down the door, you couldn’t have the room with the view right away--you’d need to wait for repairs first, and in that time he’d probably just install another window somewhere else and live there instead. Not to mention it would probably be coming out of your credits.”

She hummed thoughtfully on that. “So you’re suggesting extortion? I’m down with that.” She said with sudden clarity. 

Not expecting that to be the conclusion, he burst out with a short, loud laugh, which sent her off into a fit of uncontrolled giggles as well. It sounded so logical, the way she presented it--as if this entire conversation made perfect sense in its entirety. 

“ _Yes_ , that’s exactly what I meant,” he said, still smiling widely after they’d come down somewhat. “Open robbery? No, but crimes like extortion--oh, perfectly acceptable.” He shifted, looking down at her flushed face on the bed below him. Her dark green eyes sparkled in the soft blue glow of artificial light, technology that never turned off and never let a room go truly dark anywhere on the station. She was biting her lower lip, grinning up at him stupidly, with the look of someone who was staring at their entire universe. It made him still and suck in a breath--no  _wonder_  he’d fallen in love with this human when he had. 

“You’re a fool, Taoshay,” he said, sweeping down to kiss her all at once. She met him with equal enthusiasm, curving up to meet his lips and body, wrapping her arms around his neck and locking him there. “An absolute fool,” he breathed against her open mouth, “And I love you because of it.” 

They weren’t going to go farther than this tonight, he knew that as soon as they’d left Gil’s that she was in no shape for their usual enthusiastic love-making. But this, this was just as good. Hearing the soft, pleasured noises she made whenever he’d swipe his tongue against hers and send delicate jolts of electricity through her body and the way she’d tense up and sigh into his mouth when she came down from the quick rush--it was more than enough for now. 

He lost track of how long they went on like this for, lost in each other and lost to the universe at large. He could’ve gone on like this for hours. 

Eventually, though, she pulled back. “Wait, wait, wait,” she laughed, worming out from under him and reaching for the drawer in the bedside table. “I have an idea.” 

“Darling One...?” Curiously, he watched her root around for whatever she was looking for. The view wasn’t half-bad either. Angara and humans had different things they were physically attracted to on their partners, as a general rule, but after a solid year of being at her side, he would be hard-pressed to admit that the sight of her toned ass in a pair of her off-duty lace panties wasn’t doing _something_  for him. 

“Got it,” she announced triumphantly, flopping back down on the bed. “Here, take it,” she said, extending her hand and the object. She was grinning excitedly, looking proud of whatever she had planned. 

“This is... a marker?” He turned it over in his hand, looking at it in the dull light to confirm--it was, indeed, a marker. “Do I get to know what this is for?”

“Yeah,” she laughed. “I want you to write me a love letter,” she said, gesturing to her body.

“On you?” He looked at her with an amused half smile. “Anywhere?”

“Anywhere at all,” she nodded. “Surprise me. Write me a love letter, Jaal.” 

She was serious, because of course she was. He took a minute to think about what he wanted to write, and where--it was an odd request, and he was fairly certain that it wasn’t something most humans did. 

“Hold still,” he finally said, closing the distance between them. She giggled when he rolled her shirt up just under her breasts, skin jumping wherever he touched. “Stop twitching,” he scolded, though the words lacked any bite.

“Can’t help it,” she replied, clearly stifling giggles, “you  _tingle_.”

He rolled his eyes. “As if you don’t enjoy that,” he teased.

“Never said I didn’t,” she said playfully. “Anyway, I’ll try and hold still--you just do what you gotta do down there. I won’t even look until you’re done, promise.” 

“The day I believe that is that day I let you move us to Kadara,” he said dryly. Nonetheless, he set to work, carefully marking out the characters he had in his mind onto her skin. He’d settled on a place near the middle of her chest, following the line of her ribs to the left. He couldn’t see a real end to all this, aside from Cat being sentimental when she was drunk--and by now she must have been coming down from that, if he was too. (Truthfully, he’d been just as far gone as she had been hours ago, but thanks to differences in their physiology had managed to hide it  _much_  better). 

“Oh please, like I’d ever.” Her eyes were trained on the ceiling, but she couldn’t resist a peek. “You’re done already?” She asked, watching him pull back to admire his work. 

“I am,” he said, capping the marker with finality. “Short, sweet, and something your attention span would actually let you sit for,” he joked, and then laughed at the look it earned him. 

“Don’t be rude when I’m being nice,” she scowled, and then apparently forgot to be annoyed completely. “What’d I end up with?” She could see part of the inscription from her angle, see enough to know that she could recognize the characters as Angaran standard, but nothing else. 

“Mm, I don’t think I’ll tell you tonight,” he said, settling back down beside her for the night. 

“Wait, for real?”  She asked, arching a brow. “You’re just gonna leave me with a message in Shelesh under my boob and then go all cryptic on me?” 

“Watching you try to figure it out is more fun for me than actually telling you.” His eyes were closed, but he could feel her squinting at him, trying to figure out what she could say to that. 

“You’re the worst,” she pouted. It didn’t stop her from laying down beside him and throwing an arm and leg overtop of him. “Absolutely terrible. I am too. Thank you.” 

“I love you too, Catrina Ryder,” he said serenely. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Her voice sounded far away in the dark, yet somehow inside his skull too. “And I love you, Jaal Ama Darav. Go the fuck to sleep.”

Never before had an expletive seemed so endearing. 

 

 

* * *

 

He woke up to the sound of bags hitting the table and an empty bed. 

The artificial sunlight coming through the false window was blinding at this hour--he’d like to meet the person who decided that the Nexus should have exactly two settings, ‘Dusk’ and ‘Surface of the Sun’. 

Blearily, he watched her move around the room. It was unusual for her to be up first after a night out, even more so for her to leave without telling him. Before he could say anything, she noticed where he’d started stirring and practically bounced over to sit on the bed beside him. 

“Afternoon,” she smiled, leaning down to place a quick kiss on his brow. “I bought breakfast.” 

“You’re surprisingly chipper,” he noted. “Did you somehow skip the hangover?”

She laughed. “Oh, _fuck_ no. I’ve already thrown up like, twice, and these sunglasses won’t be coming off for at least twelve hours. I feel like death honestly. But, hey, I had shit to do--and I kinda wanted to surprise you with something before you got up.” She admitted sheepishly at the end. 

“I take it that it’s not just the food?” 

“That’s half of it,” she grinned. “Anyway, remember last night, with the whole marker thing...?”

“I do recall, yes.” He noticed her avoidance of the phrase ‘love letter’, which was amusing, after all this time. Oh, sure, she had little trouble openly admitting she felt affection, but something like that? Sober-Ryder was undoubtedly embarrassed by it. It was kind of cute, actually. 

“Yeah, that. I genuinely hope that you weren’t fucking around with me and writing like, a takeout order on my ribs or something, because I got it tattooed this morning.” 

It took him a second to let it register. “You went out and did what?” He asked again, just to double check that he’d heard correctly. He was definitely awake now. 

“It’s permanent,” she laughed, shrugging out of her jacket and rolling up her top to reveal the fresh ink under a clear bandage. “Which is, you know, why I definitely hope it’s as nice as I think it is, but then again even if it’s not I’ll still love it ‘cause it’s from you and there’s a story behind it.” She grinned, looking obscenely proud of herself. “What do you think?” 

He reached out and ran his hand over the inscription, which was definitely done in his hand, now much darker and bolder than he remembered it to be the night before. And then he laughed. 

“It just reads ‘I love you’ in Shelesh,” he admitted, fingertips still on her skin, “But now that you mention it, I really could have done whatever I wanted, and you still would have gotten that tattooed anyway...?” He shook his head, still smiling. “That is far too much power, Darling One.”

“Maybe someday I’ll let you do another one,” she said thoughtfully, climbing more on the bed and using him as a backrest. “And specify that I want it to be the absolute worst thing you can think of.” 

“Careful what you wish for,” he warned, curling around her. “Because that is a challenge I do believe I can meet.”

“We’ll see about that,” she chuckled, stretching her arms above her head and reclining. “Because next time I want to give _you_ something too. And I’m not going to say what it is until after we’re done.” 

“I’ll hold you to that, you know.”

“That’s the idea.” 

After a few moments and she made no move to get up and grab the food she’d brought home, he had to ask, “Are you, by chance, stuck here because you’re afraid you’ll be sick again?”

She snorted out a small, harsh laugh. “Ahahah, yeah. That’s pretty much what happened. Should not have sat down at all--that was a mistake. Gimme like ten minutes and I’ll move and we can eat.”

With an affectionate roll of his eyes, he prepared to settle in for at least double that, just in case. It didn’t matter, this was comfortable. Weird, definitely not something he’d ever have pictured for himself, but comfortable. 

“Deal.” 


End file.
